The Brave And The Bold
by Hyperteenager24
Summary: Gorilla Grodd uses a mind-control device to obtain isotopes that will help destroy Gorilla City. To that end, he enlists Flash to oppose the Green Lantern. Part 7 of Modern Wondertrev series
1. Chapter 1

"Ugh…" The archaeologist pushed herself to her feet and wiped the sweat away from her forehead, "… what's the saying? Mad dogs and Englishmen- "

"- All for a good cause my dear." Interrupted her companion, a fond smile on his face as he twisted around to reassure the young lady

"Yeah, yeah…" Dr. Mary went back to her knees and went back to chipping away at the rock wall… until she spotted something bone-like embedded in the stone "… What's this?" When she brushed the dust and remnants of stone, the skull of what appeared to be an ape stared back at her.

Gently, she pulled the skull free and headed back over to Dr. Louis and handed it over to him.

"Hmmm…" he frowned, "… this is much older than it ought to be. This could be the greatest discovery in all of mankind."

PEW PEW PEW

The pair glanced overhead as unseen flying machine shot past them, gorillas on the saddle as they fired at someone flying away from them.

"Humans!" A white gorilla growled, quickly gesturing for his followers to turn back around and head towards… was that a city?!

The pair watched in amazement and shock as the gorillas headed towards the city, which shimmered slightly before being replaced with the image of a mountain.

"Ummm…. What was that?!"

…

"So, there I was, cornered!" Barry stated dramatically, before taking another huge bite of his burger, "Captain Cold honestly thought he had the best of me, but he didn't… and you know why? Be- "

"- Because you're the fastest man alive." Iris and Steve interrupted at the same, high-fiving each other as Barry pouted in disappointment.

"You've already told us story sweetie…" Iris patted Barry on the hand and smiled softly at him, "… I actually think you've told everyone this story."

Barry flushed slightly, "Did I?" He then shrugged and turned his attention back to Steve, "Got your attention off of Diana though didn't it?"

"Yeah… until you mentioned it again."

As Steve lost himself in his thoughts once again, staring down into his coffee, Iris rolled her eyes and nudged Barry in the side, silently admonishing him for bringing up the subject.

But she couldn't help but talk about it herself.

"Hasn't she said anything to you? Like a proper conversation?" she asked, a concerned look on her face as Steve shook his head.

"Not really. Good morning, good night… she's barely touched me since I told her I don't want to try for children at the moment." Steve then sighed, "I don't know if I can go on for much longer."

Barry winced, recognising the defeated tone in the omega's voice for what it was. However, before he could say anything else, he heard a car brakes squeal and people calling out in alarm from the streets.

Quickly glancing over, he saw a car racing towards the diner…. In fact, it was heading straight for them.

In less than a second, he had Iris and Steve moved to safety as the car smashed through the diner window.

"Rain check…" he quickly assured his wife, quickly changing into his flash costume and heading towards the vehicle to make sure that everyone was alright.

"Are you okay Sir?"

The driver forced the airbag back down, his face pale. "He's a madman!" he yelled, "He ran me right off the road! Someone's gotta stop him!"

"…. Right."

With an apologetic smile at Iris, Barry sped off, leaving the other two behind.

"It's times like that, where I remember what I fell in love with."

"…. His speed? Surely it's a hindrance at times?"

Knowing what Steve was getting at, Iris gave him a mock glare… before it turned into a smirk. "You should see his refractory time."

"Iris!"

"You started it."

…

The culprit was easy enough to find.

A truck was racing down the road, not caring what or who they hit, so long as they got to their destination. Thankfully the other crashes appeared to be quite minor, meaning that Barry didn't have the urge to stop and make sure people were alright.

And then the passenger started shooting at him.

"Oh, come one!" Barry exclaimed, moving from side to side in an attempt to dodge the blasts and try and stop the driver, running around traveling cars as he went, "Give me a break!"

In order to try and reduce the number of car accidents, Barry ran along the sides of the buildings, taking advantage of his new position and attempting to leap onto the van… only to stumble and fall off.

Within milliseconds, he'd righted himself and was back on the chase.

"Please let nobody have taped that…" he begged under his breath, "… please, oh please, oh please."

Unfortunately, another consequence of running along the side of the buildings was that the blasts hit the buildings… which meant that eventually, one of these old buildings was going to crack and crumble.

It just so happened, that a couple was right in the path of the falling rubble.

"Oh, come on!"

Quickly running a circle around the pair, he managed to create a small whirlwind that directed the rubble over towards a nearby skip. Once he was sure that everything had been cleared, he stopped and beamed at the pair.

"You guys alright?"

"Y-Yeah!"

"Cool! Keep safe!"

And then he went back on the chase…. Eventually, they'd run out of ammo.

Right?

….

Right.

When the passenger resorted to actually throwing the gun, Barry zipped around to the driver's side and tapped on the window.

"Pull over!" he ordered, "Pull over!"

Instead of doing just that, the driver forced the car to the left, clearly trying to pin Barry against the side of the bridge. Unfortunately, it back-fired as the van started to lean over too far and then tip onto its side, skidding along the road.

"Today just keeps getting worse and worse…" Barry sighed wearily, "… all I wanted was a nice day out with my wife and friend!"

Quickly, he climbed on top of the van and grabbed the driver and passenger, getting them to safety just as the van smashed through the side of the bridge and headed to the water down below.

Or, at least it would have if it hadn't been for the green bubble surrounding it.

"Drop something?" Hal smirked.

"Oh, come on GL!" Barry cackled, "I had that totally under control!"

"Oh, is that why everything's wrecked and on fire?"

"… I hate you. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Responding to a police call…" Hal moved the van back onto the bridge, "… someone hijacked a van full of radioactive isotopes."

They opened up the back of the van, and lo and behold… stolen radioactive isotopes.

Barry turned to the two unconscious men (having been knocked out when the van tipped to the side). "No wonder these guys were in such a hurry to get away."

As if on cue, the driver slowly came to, weakly shaking his head and groaning in pain. "W-where am I?"

"You hijacked a van full of radioactive stuff and drove it off the bridge… any of this ringing a bell?"

"…. What?" The man glanced at Hal, clearly hoping the other hero would say something else.

Hal just raised an eyebrow. "Let's see some ID…" he muttered, green strands reaching out and pulling the men's wallets from their pockets, "… Professor Arthur Chin and Mister Mark Stevens. Both work at the research centre where the isotopes were stolen from."

"Huh? And I feel guilty when I take paperclips from work." Barry chuckled

"Same… but let's see if we can get to the bottom of this."

…..

"I'm sorry, but I can't explain their behaviour." Dr. Sarah Corwin sighed wearily, "They're both highly respected members of their fields."

Hal nodded in understanding, "Hmm, they don't fit the profile of armed robbers?"

"To be fair, they've been under immense pressure to finish this project. It's possible they simply snapped under the strange."

As the other two chatted, Barry walked around the lab, his scientific mind going over-drive as he glanced at the monkeys in cages

"I wish I could help you…" Dr. Corwin muttered, "… but frankly, this whole thing seems preposterous."

"What were they working on?"

"That's classified."

Meanwhile, Barry had helped himself to one of the bananas in the nearby fruit bowl (sometimes he hated his metabolism) and wandered over to wear a gorilla was kept in a cage…. The hungry looking gorilla.

"Sorry mate…" Barry shrugged, pointing to a sign on the wall that read DON'T FEED THE LAB ANIMALS, "… but I really don't want to annoy this woman."

"If you gentlemen will excuse me, I have work to do."

As the Doctor walked away, Hal turned to Barry and shook his head. "She's hiding something."

"Agreed…. Think we need to call the rest of the League in?"

"No… let's keep this between us."


	2. Chapter 2

"Would you hurry up…" Hal sighed as Barry lingered near the hot-dog vendor, "… I thought we were conducting an investigation here?"

"If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, I have a hyper-accelerated metabolism…. And this is just a little snack."

As Barry emerged with over ten hot-dogs cradled in his arms, Hal shook his head wearily.

"Do you think any children you and Iris have will have this metabolism?" he couldn't help but ask, as Barry frowned.

"Dunno… never really thought about it." He shrugged, "We're both so busy all the time, children haven't really come into play."

"At all?"

"Not even once."

Before Hal could ask anything else, the sound of police sirens filled the air, followed by people screaming and running away from something.

"Now what?"

"There's a gorilla on the loose!"

At the scared screams, Barry eagerly scoffed down half of the hot-dogs and handed the others over to Hal. "I've got this!"

"Wait! I'll…." Barry was already gone, "… go with you."

Hal then turned to the vendor, "Please tell me I don't have to pay for all this?"

"Oh no…" the vendor chuckled, "… Flash always gives me money in advice. He's the one keeping me in business!"

…

The Police and armed guards were everywhere in the park, firing nets at the giant, greyish gorilla that was racing through the area, nimbly climbing over children's play equipment and dodging them at every turn.

It was chaos.

And then the gorilla leapt out of the park, running over to a nearby convertible and yanking the driver out, and getting in itself…. Before driving away.

"Stop him!" called out the driver, "My insurance doesn't cover a second driver!"

….

Barry couldn't believe what he was seeing.

A gorilla had just driven past.

"Now there's something you don't see every day…" he smirked, before taking chase, borrowing a rake from a nearby gardener as he went. After catching up, he glanced at the gorilla and tilted his head to the side, "Having fun there, Mojo?"

The gorilla sped up.

Gripping the rake firmly, Barry threw it into the path of the vehicle, grinning when it punctured the two left side tyres, sending the car skidding into a nearby wall. As the gorilla slowly climbed out, Barry sped over, holding up his hands to appear less threatening as he approached the animal.

"Easy there boy, we'll have you safe behind monkey bars before you know it."

When he reached down to try and comfort the creature, it suddenly rolled away from him and sneered up at him, "Get your stinking paws off me, you filthy human!"

"…What?!" Barry took a step back in shock, only to hear a click from high up above and electricity to course through his entire body as he screamed in pain.

Within seconds, blackness encroached on his vision and he fell to the ground.

…

It was all happening again.

He'd gone into his lab late one night, ignoring the lightning storm going on outside in a desperate attempt to run more analyses and gather enough evidence for an upcoming trial.

It was a freak accident…one in a million chances of it happening.

As he reached out for some chemicals, which he kept gathered together on a shelf, a bolt of lightning crashed through the window, hitting him and causing all of the chemicals to fall on him, burning through his clothes and soaking into his skin.

He was in a coma for over six months, and when he woke up, he wasn't the same.

He ran faster than any normal human being, faster than most vehicles ever created.

He could see himself running down the road that led to Central City… and then he started to slow down, his weight increasing dramatically as it got really difficult to breath.

He felt like he was seconds away from a heart attack.

As he slowed to a stop, three mirrors suddenly burst up from the ground. One of them showed him as being tall and lanky, one of them showed him in his usual state and the third showed him with a large head.

Which he suddenly had…. And it was growing.

He screamed in alarm as his head continued to grow, until it exploded with a loud BANG and everything went black. All the red bits melded together to form a marionette version of himself, strings and all.

As the puppet tried to run, scissors appeared out of nowhere and cut the strings holding him up, causing him to fall towards a white light and straight onto solid ground, where he crumbled into pieces.

Once the dust cleared, he seemed to be back together… until a new pain appeared and his hands started to grow, gorilla hands ripping through the costume as the rest of him started to change as well.

"Hey! Wake up!"

There was a sharp pain in his cheek and his eyes shot open, to see a bearded, dirty man standing above him.

"Come on! You're in my spot!"

Groaning in pain, Barry pushed himself to his feet (whilst checking that his mask was still in place), "W-where am i?"

The other men glanced to the left, where the cell door was sliding open and Detective Joe West was glaring at Barry. "Flash... let's go."

"Joe, what- "Barry watched as he was handcuffed and dragged out of the cell, pulled down the corridor and shoved into another room, forced to sit down, "- what did I do?!"

Joe grabbed a video and shoved it into a video player, "This is surveillance from the police impound." On the screen, it showed the truck with the stolen isotopes, "See that… you and Green Lantern stopped it earlier that day… now watch."

On the screen, there was a red blur and one of the isotopes disappeared.

"… What?"

"Too quick for you… let's try the freeze frame."

Joe re-winded the video and paused it, revealing that the Flash was carrying the stolen isotope, "Recognise anyone?"

Oh god… Iris was going to kill him.

….

"Let's go over it again." Detective Joe West sighed from across the table, glaring at Barry.

"There's nothing to go over! I'm innocent!"

"So, it wasn't you on the tape?"

"No… well, yes, but I don't remember!" Barry desperately begged, wanting the second detective to leave so that he could talk to Joe in private. The man couldn't honestly believe he would do this… right?

"Where did you stash the isotopes Flash?" No… Joe seemed to believe he'd done it.

"Just tell us your side of the story…" the other detective spoke up, "… I'm sure the D.A would understand, after all, you're a hero."

"Was a hero." Interjected Joe, glaring at Barry… who fought the urge to act like the first time Iris introduced him to her Dad… like a bumbling idiot, "Forget his statement… we've got the tape."

Barry felt his heart sink into his stomach.

"He's right…" the other detective moved over to the coffee machine, "… if you want to help yourself out, you'll have to do it now."

Barry shook his head, burying his face in his hands, "I can't think… I'm tired… I'm hungry."

"Maybe some coffee will help. How do you take it?"

"Cream and thirty-seven sugars."

At the brief pause, Barry twisted around and nodded at the stunned detective. "Really… fast metabolism."

Suddenly, the door slammed open and Steve walked into the room, followed by a well-dressed man… lawyer clearly. "Put it in a paper cup…" Steve ordered, "… he'll be taking it to go." He flung a file at Joe, watching as the Detective flicked through it.

"You actually posted bail for him? Didn't realise that was in your job description?"

"Oh please…" Steve rolled his eyes, "… if he were really guilty, then do you think you would have been able to hold here with a pair of handcuffs?"

At the cue, Barry got to his feet, twirling a pair of handcuffs on his index finger, before tossing them to the other detective.

"This is Mister Stone…" Steve introduced the other well-dressed man, "… he's going to have a small conversation with you about not allowing Flash to call a lawyer before you bombard him with evidence."

Without waiting for an answer, Steve and Barry left the room and then the station.

"Thanks for that Steve…" Barry sighed, "… I never thought Joe would look at me like that. Like he actually hated me!"

Before Steve could say anything, a green hand came out of nowhere and slapped Barry on the back of his head, causing him to yelp in shock. "Hey!"

Floating down from above, Hal was shaking his head. "What were you thinking?!" the man scolded.

"I wasn't thinking anything!"

"Obviously!"

Barry rolled his eyes, "Look, if I wanted to be interrogated, I would have stayed in there! It's like I told them, I don't remember anything!"

Before Hal could say anything, Steve held up his hand and took the lead, "Why don't we start with what you do remember Flash?"

"Okay… after I caught the gorilla, it told me- "

"- the gorilla talked to you?!" Hal interrupted.

"Yeah, right after I stopped his car."

"Come on Steve…" Hal groaned, "… are we really suppose to believe this?"

Glancing between Steve and Hal, Barry rolled his eyes behind his mask. "Hey, we all have a Martian's number on our speed-dial, one of us is dating an Amazon and Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne are actually nice to us… I think I deserve the benefit of the doubt here!"

Slightly stunned by the rant, Steve cleared his throat. "Right… well why don't you look into that… together this time?"

"On it Boss!"

"Don't call me- "

Barry and Hal were already gone.

"- forget it."


	3. Chapter 3

"Looks like he's still at large…" Barry mused as he and Hal entered the park from above, watching as police swarmed the area.

"Yeah… just what this city needs." Hal scanned the ground with his ring, quickly finding a gorilla print and calling Barry over as they followed the tracks all the way to a nearby subway tunnel. "In there."

"It's always the dark and creepy tunnels… why can't it ever be in a toy store?"

"Spoken like a man who's never fought against Toyman…" Hal shuddered, "… now that guy gives me the creeps."

They walked further into the tunnel, the light of Hal's ring suddenly illuminated a giant foot… which then led to the rest of the gorilla.

Wincing briefly at the bright, green light, the gorilla took several steps forward and roared, beating it's chest with it's hands in an attempt to intimidate the pair.

"Oh no you don't!" Hal growled in return, firing a burst of energy from his ring, sending the gorilla flying backwards out of the tunnel.

There was a brief moment of silence, before the gorilla slowly pushed itself up and sneered at them. "Was that really necessary?"

Hal was shocked for a brief time, before turning to Barry and shrugging. "Okay… so it can talk. What do you want?"

The gorilla pushed himself to his feet and walked a little bit closer, "My name is Solovar. I'm Chief of Security for Gorilla city."

"Gorilla city?" Barry shook his head in disbelief, "Maybe I really did crack up."

"I assure you, you have not gone crazy… safely hidden away from the eyes of humanity, we gorillas lived in peace… until a power-hungry genius called Grodd attempted to take control of the city by force, using his mind control technology. We were able to thwart his plot, but we couldn't prevent his escape… it wasn't until later, that we found out, he'd also stolen our city's security plans." Solovar sighed wearily, "Grodd has sworn terrible revenge on everyone in Gorilla city."

"So… that's why you're here?" Barry asked

"Yes. To stop him from carrying out his threats."

Hal frowned to himself for a few moments before he snapped his fingers in realisation. "If it's true he has a mind control device, it could explain the isotope thefts and your memory loss Flash."

"He needs the isotope to power his devices…" Solovar confirmed.

"So, where is he?"

In response to Barry's question, Solovar walked over to a nearby bush, which shimmered for a moment to reveal a floating bike… thing. Opening up a compartment, he pulled out a few files. "My investigation revealed that he had been in an email correspondence with a local scientist, Doctor Sarah Corwin."

"I knew there was something weird about that lady…" Barry frowned.

Hal nodded in agreement, "Yeah… we should probably call the others… or at least Steve."

"Come on Hal, we can handle one gorilla… it'll be a piece of cake" Barry prepared to run, "I'll meet you there!"

"Wait, first you must- "

Barry was gone.

Solovar sighed wearily, "He's very fast huh?"

"Sometimes too fast… what were you going to say?"

Solovar pulled out three silver headbands, "These will protect us from Grodd's ray."

"Of course." Hal placed one on his head and sighed wearily, "We should catch Flash before he gets into any more trouble… and I need to call Steve. Dealing with government officials is so his job."

…

"I'm going to be out late tonight."

"Okay."

Steve winced at the coldness in his Alpha's voice… she was better than she had been, but it still wasn't brilliant.

"Don't wait up."

"Okay."

Ouch.

…

Barry zipped into the lab, his eyes scanning the room for any signs of evil scientists or evil gorillas.

The cage where the gorilla had once been, was wide open.

"Great…" he muttered to himself, "… just great."

At the sight of him the other monkeys and apes started to shriek and kick up a fuss, watching as Barry slowly made his way around the lab, looking for anything that could help.

"Don't move."

He tensed at the side of her voice, darting to one side as she fired a weapon at him, moving behind her and tapping her on the shoulder.

"How- "

"- you blinked." He grabbed the gun from her hands and straightened up, "Where's Grodd?"

"… I don't know what you mean."

"Please don't lie to me… Grodd? Your gorilla pen p-AH!"

A gorilla hand come out of nowhere and sent him flying through the air, landing on the desk with a loud thud as glass started to poke through his suit and chemicals soaked through it.

Before he lost consciousness, a well-cultured voice spoke up. "That's for stealing one of my bananas."

….

"So… we're going in there to challenge a gorilla, who has the ability to control minds?"

Hal and… and the other gorilla both nodded, with the gorilla gesturing for him to put the silver headband on.

"Pretty much yeah…" Hal smirked, "… can't be any worse than an alien invasion."

"… Or an invasion from Atlantis."

The gorilla frowned, "Humans have such strange problems to deal with… shall we?"

Hal and Steve nodded, with Steve and Solovar taking a step back as Hal created a large green fist with his ring, smashing it against the wall of the lab.

"It's over Grodd!" Solovar announced, as he and the other two aimed their guns at Grodd and Doctor Corwin, taking note of Barry lying on the desk.

Grodd however, seemed amused by the proceedings. "Solovar… you should never have come here."

"You can't control his Grodd… not when we're wearing these."

"Oh, I wasn't thinking of controlling you…" Grodd's eyes flickered down to the unconscious form of the Flash, who suddenly shot up into a seated position, "… destroy them!"

There was a flash of red, and Solovar was punched back with a cry of pain.

"No offense…" Steve muttered, remaining tense with his fingers on the trigger, "… but I saw this coming."

Hal created a large green bubble that the Flash ran into, stunning the hero briefly. "Did you plan for it? Don't all military men plan for everything?"

"Back-up should be on the way."

"Batman?"

"Better." Steve was then forced to dive to the side, taking shelter behind a steel door as the Flash fired shot after shot at him, from Solovar's dropped gun. "Flash, snap out of it!"

As they continued to battle with Barry, Grodd and Doctor Corwin made their escape.

"Flash! Stop!" Hal managed to knock the gun out of his hand, but catching the speedster was a little bit more difficult, "Hold still!"

As he was trying to catch the speedster, and stop the man from seriously hurting Steve, Hal failed to notice how one of the blasts from his ring, cracked a nearby column… not until it was too late.

With a cry of pain and alarm, Hal fell to the ground, the column falling and crushing him underneath giant slabs of rock, leaving him completely vulnerable.

Barry lifted up a steel bar at this point, clearly intending to bash it across Hal's head, should the man ever emerge. Steve moved to try and grab the man in a chokehold, hoping to knock him out and kickstart the betas brain.

But he wasn't quick enough.

There was a loud cry, before another steel bar came crashing down on top of Barry's head, causing him to fall to the ground in an unconscious slump.

"Sorry honey…" Iris muttered, throwing the bar to one side, "… cognitive recalibration and all that."

At that moment, Hal managed to throw the rocks off of him, instantly spotting a sheepish looking Iris. "Iris!" he exclaimed in alarm, glancing at Steve, "Your back-up idea was Iris?!"

"I didn't think she'd knock him out!" Steve protested, "I thought she'd just talk to him, and that would work! It usually does in movies and stuff."

"In movies?!"

"We don't have that much experience with mind control, sue me!"

Hal couldn't help but chuckle, making his way over to Solovar as Iris went to tend to Barry. "Are you alright?" he asked the gorilla.

Solovar nodded slowly, before turning his attention to the side… his eyes widened in alarm.

"Watch ou- "

BANG

Hal spun around, to see Barry lying in a different position, and Iris with the bar above her head.

"Sorry…" she winced, "… he looked like he was going to attack again."

"… Does Barry know how vicious you are?"

Iris winced again, as Steve reached into an inside pocket and handcuffed Barry's legs together.

"Just in case…" he explained, "… Iris might not be so quick next time." He then glanced up, noticing that Solovar was quickly heading towards the back of the building, "Hal…. You need to give him back-up."

"Are you sure you two will- "

"- we can handle Barry, now go!"

Hal nodded slowly, before racing after Solovar.

….

"Sorry to make such a hasty exit, but I've got a city to destroy!"

There was the press of a button, and Hal watched as a large ball of energy started to swell, almost to the point where it was about to blow.

"No!" he cried out, attempting to use his ring to slow the energy down, hoping that it might even be enough to stop it.

The energy continued to swell however.

In less than a minute, the energy was about an inch away from Hal's outstretched hand…. In just under two minutes, it had consumed Hal and Solovar entirely... and in five minutes, Central City had been taken over.

There was a flash of bright light… and it was all gone.

It was like Central City had never existed.


	4. Chapter 4

"Diana! Hawkgirl!"

Diana shook herself out of her thoughts, rushing over to J'onn who was monitoring the Earth down below, analysing data for any anomalies.

"What is it J'onn?" Hawkgirl asked in concern, worrying about the pale tinge on J'onn's skin.

He almost looked like he was in shock.

"Central City… it's gone." He whispered.

Gone?

But Steve was down there, helping out Hal and Barry… it just couldn't be true.

"That's impossible!" she exclaimed, moving closer to the monitors to have a better look.

"See for yourselves…" J'onn gestured at the screens, "… sensors indicate that the city has disappeared without a trace."

"Weren't Hal and Barry down there?"

Diana didn't answer Hawkgirl, already dialling Steve's number in panic. "Steve? Steve, this is Diana! Please come in!"

Nothing but static.

"Steve, please! Steve!"

When there was no answer yet again, Diana found herself falling to her knees in shock. "I've lost him…" she whispered, "… I've lost my omega… and I didn't even get to say I was sorry."

…

Hal groaned in pain, weakly clenching his fist and he pushed himself to his feet.

Thank God he'd managed to put shields around the others before he'd lost consciousness.

"We're still here." He reported to Solovar, who was pushing himself to his own feet, along with Iris and Steve.

"So, it would seem."

Upon realising that Barry was still unconscious, Iris knelt by him, turning to Solovar when it became clear that Barry probably wasn't going to wake up soon. "The mind control? Can't you do anything about it?"

"Of course Ma'am" Solovar reached into his bag and pulled out two more silver headbands, "These should protect him and you."

Iris took them gratefully, putting one on her head and another on Barry's.

The instant the band was placed on his head, Barry shot up into a seated position, his eyes wide in shock. "Whowhatwherewhy?!"

He then glanced over to his right, beaming at the sight of a relieved Iris… the smile soon fell when he noticed the looks on Hal and Solovar's faces.

"Oh… not again!" he sighed, allowing himself to be helped to his feet by Hal, "What did I miss?"

"That 'one gorilla' got away… you got mind-controlled and then Iris hit you on the head… twice."

"That explains the pain…" Barry glanced over at Hal and winced at the look on the man's face, "… go on… you can say it."

"Well, I hate to say I told you so…" Hal shook his head and smirked at a sheepish Barry, "… this time, we're getting back-up." He tapped his communicator, "Green Lantern to Watchtower…. Watchtower come in!"

Silence.

"My comm links offline…" He eventually sighed, "… try yours Barry. Steve."

The pair both tried their own communicators, only to get the same result.

"Offline…" Steve sighed, "… completely offline."

"And for good reason."

They all turned to Solovar, moving over to the whole in the wall…. And staring up at the shimmering green field in the sky.

"Okay… what the hell is that?" Barry asked in shock

"It's just like the shield that protects my city…" Solovar announced, "… nothing can get in- "

"- or out, knowing our luck." Hal groaned, "Unless I can shut down the generator."

Together, they all made their way back into the generator room, where Hal fired a blast at the machine, not even flinching as green lightning flashed all around. Once he stopped though, it became clear the blast had had no effect.

"Not even a scratch!" Barry exclaimed.

Solovar wasn't shocked though, "Gorilla city technology is very advanced…" he stated, before turning away, "… come. We must find Grodd."

…..

"Approaching Central City…" Diana announced, trying to keep her voice steady as they flew overhead.

"Or where it used to be."

Not appreciating Hawkgirl's snide comment, Diana twisted around to glare at her, untilt he omega winced in apology and turned her attention to J'onn.

"See anything yet?"

"Negative…" the Martian drawled, "… it's as though it never existed."

Suddenly, alarms began to blare all over the ship.

"Proximity alert! Twelve o'clock!" Diana cried out.

"But I see nothing!"

"Bruce designed this ship…" Diana argued, "… if the sensors say something is there- AH!"

They all cried out in alarm as something hit the ship from the side, sending them flying towards the ground.

"Great Hera!"

J'onn pulled on the steering controls, desperately trying to slow their descent. "Hang on!"

Pulling up on the controls, he managed to manoeuvre the ship back to a vertical position, wincing as it skimmed across the ground, like a flat stone across the water.

Slowly, the ramp lowered and they all made their way outside, rubbing at sore spots where they'd knocked themselves against the side of the ship. When they went to examine the damage, J'onn frowned.

"Your trust in Batman's mechanical skills were well-placed…" he stated to Diana.

"What did we even hit?"

They all turned around, examining the area closely until Diana gently came into contact with something in front of her. "Some sort of energy field…" she concluded, before turning to J'onn, "… can you phase through it?"

J'onn tried, only to cry out in pain and fly back, as though he'd been shocked. "It seems to be an asynchronous, dimensional interface."

Hawkgirl clearly wasn't impressed, "Let me take a whack at it."

"No! Don't!"

But it was too late.

As soon as her mace hit the shield, there was a crack of electricity and Hawkgirl flew backwards, crashing into Diana and sending them both to the ground.

"Perhaps we should try a different approach." Diana scolded, her tone firm as she glared at Hawkgirl.

….

Meanwhile, back in Central City, the streets were completely deserted… literally…. no-one was around.

"Alright, this is weird…" Barry muttered, "… am I the only one who finds this creepy? Where is everyone?!"

"Maybe the shield frightened them?" Steve reasoned, "I mean, no offence to you Barry, but your worst villain creates ice walls…. This isn't what Central is used to.

"Captain Cold would be thrilled to hear you call him my worst villain…. And I think there's something more to it." Barry glanced around again, "Usually when the streets are this empty, flesh-eating zombies' are involved."

As Hal rolled his eyes, Iris placed a gentle hand on her husband's shoulder. "You watch too many movies sweetie."

"Ssshhh!" Solovar suddenly held out his hand, stopping them in their tracks as the sound of people's voices started to be heard, "Listen."

He moved over to an alleyway, as the sound got louder and louder.

"Alright…" Steve muttered, "… As much as I hate to agree with Barry and his zombie theory, maybe he does have a small point."

As they walked closer, they could finally hear what the people were chanting.

"GRODD! GRODD! GRODD!"

In the centre of the city, there was a stage, where Grodd stood proudly. His face was projected onto a screen high above him.

"We're too late…" Solovar groaned, "… they're already under his control."

Barry frowned, "How many of these headbands do you have left?"

"Two."

"… That's not going to be enough."

…

"Diana…" Bruce began, "… I've analysed the data you sent over."

"Sorry, I know Gotham has been chaotic recently… Any chance you've figured out a way to pierce the forcefield?"

"It's not a problem. And not yet… but I did discover something else. There's a second energy signature, very similar to the one you've encountered, but in Africa."

"Africa?"

"Maybe the city's been transported there?" J'onn asked.

"Unlikely…" Bruce sighed, "… but it is worth investigating. I'm sending coordinates to your on-board GPS. I'll meet you there."

"Bruce, what about Gotham?"

Bruce was silent for a time, before he audibly sighed, "Clark can't supervise, Lex is on Heat Leave…. Hopefully the GCPD will keep everything under control."

"What has been keeping you away from the League?" J'onn asked, unfamiliar with Gotham and the troubles that plagued it.

"Joker, Two-Face, Poison Ivy and Riddler have all teamed up… it's proven to be a… challenge capturing them."

Before anyone could reply, he hung up, only for J'onn to frown in confusion. "Gotham sounds… interesting."

"Pray you never have to go there J'onn…" Diana sighed, "… There's a reason Bruce is the way he is."

…..

"GRODD! GRODD! GRODD!"

Grodd held up his hands, silently calling for silence. "People of Central City!" he began, "The age of hairless, simple-minded humanity is over! Today, a new age begins! Today, Grodd rules!"

The crowd cheered again.

"Humans are slow, ugly, immoral and have an unpleasant body odour!"

"Hey! Who are you calling slow!" Barry called out, wincing as Iris slapped him on the arm.

"Don't heckle the supervillains sweetie."

"But we don't have to listen to this!

"Humans are inferior creatures, fit only to serve at my will!" Grodd continued, "But after Gorilla city falls, you will be the paving stones on which I will build my new empire!"

"Hey monkey boy!" Steve called out this time, "Why don't you go climb a skyscraper!"

"Steve!"

"INTRUDERS!" Grodd bellowed in anger, "DESTROY THEM!"

"Destroy them!" the crowd chanted, all turning to face the small group, "Destroy them!"

"Boys…" Iris rolled her eyes, "… you just can't keep your mouths shut! Alpha, beta or omega, it doesn't matter!"

As the crowd got closer and closer, Hal shook his head. "We need some breathing room!" He flew up into the air and created a ring around them, almost making their small piece of ground an island, complete with its own surrounding, waterless mout.

"Make yourselves scarce!" Hal ordered, "I'm going after Grodd!"

He took off into the sky just as the brainwashed followers leapt into the ditch, clearly intending to climb up onto the island. However, before he could make it all the way to Grodd, armed police started to fire at him, forcing him to stop and shield himself.

Meanwhile, back with the others, Barry was shaking his head. "I've saved all of these people…. That's gratitude for you!"

"Brainwashing Flash, brainwashing, remember?"

Noticing that Hal was struggling to remain shielded, Barry patted Iris and Steve on the shoulders. "Will you excuse me?"

Quickly he grabbed one of the bazooka rockets and shoved it into the weapon, before smirking at the armed officer holding it. "I'd bail if I were you."

They didn't need telling twice, and within seconds the armed police dropped their weapons and ran away, just far away to avoid being hit by the loud BOOOM.

With that threat over, Hal glanced towards the stage and frowned, "Now… where's Grodd?"


	5. Chapter 5

When Diana, J'onn and Hawkgirl finally made it to Africa (having spent a considerable amount of time fixing the jet), Batman was already there, kneeling in the middle of nowhere and staring intently at something in front of him.

"There's no question…" he began, "… this energy shield is exactly the same as the one in Central City."

"Great…" Hawkgirl rolled her eyes, "… we couldn't get through that one either."

Diana nodded in agreement, "And there's still no sign of the city or its inhabitants."

Bruce was silent for a time, before he sighed, "I heard about Steve… I'm sorry Diana."

"Thank you… perhaps if we- "

Suddenly, there was the sound of a weapon being fired at them from behind and they all cried out in pain, as electricity coursed through them, causing them to collapse into heaps upon the ground.

Everything went black.

…

When Diana next opened her eyes, she felt cool metal under her left cheek instead of hot sand. Her hands were cuffed behind her and as she got to her feet, she noticed how the others were giving her concerned looks.

"They had to shock you multiple times…" Bruce muttered, "… you just kept absorbing it."

"Daughter of Zeus and all that…" she muttered weakly, glancing up as the door slid open, and a gorilla casually strode in, a gun in its' hands.

"They are awake Sir."

The guard moved to one side, as a larger gorilla, with a scar over the left eye, walked into the cell.

"Where are we?!" Diana demanded to know, "Who's in charge here?!"

"You misunderstand the situation here intruder…" the scarred gorilla growled, "… You will answer my questions!"

Hawkgirl seemed amused by this, "Sure…" she cooed, gently rattling her chain, "… just get us out of these first."

The gorilla grabbed her chin, frowning in confusion as he sniffed in, "You have a peculiar scent about you winged one… but it is not usually my policy to allow spies to wander free."

"We're not spies!" J'onn spoke up, drawing attention away from a clearly annoyed Hawkgirl as he pushed himself to his feet, "And nor will you hold us against our will!"

However, before he could do anything, several volts of electricity shot through him and he collapsed to the ground.

"J'onn!"

"Believe me…" The gorilla muttered, "…you will find Gorilla City much more difficult to leave, than it was to enter."

Diana frowned, "Gorilla City?"

"Now, let us begin again. Who sent you?!"

As the gorilla continued to interrogate Diana and Hawkgirl, they all failed to notice how Batman remained un-naturally still… aside from his hands, which were pulling a lock-pick out of his sleeves.

…..

"Halt! Who goes there?!"

Grodd smirked at the soldier's pitiful attempt to intimidate him. "Your Lord and Master…" he whispered, waiting until the man lowered his weapon, a sign that the mind control was working, "… would you be so kind as to direct me to the missile control room?"

"As you wish Lord Grodd!"

The barriers were lifted, and they were allowed access into the military base.

…

"Launch codes accepted… the nuclear missiles are yours to command."

"Excellent…" Grodd handed the Doctor a small slip of paper, "… enter in these coordinates."

The computer beeped, and a small circle appeared around a location in Africa.

"Targets locked. Confirming Gorilla City…. All systems are go."

"Commence firing sequence."

Together, they pulled out the launch keys and placed them in the locks, turning them until they glowed and clicked into place.

…..

"Barry!" Steve growled, as he continued to fire at the feet of the oncoming crowd, "Barry, we can't hold them back for much longer!"

"… How much do you think you all weigh together?"

They all turned and frowned at one another, with Solovar frowning, "About four hundred of your pounds. Why do you AAAAAASSSSSSSKKKKKKK!"

Within seconds, Barry had Iris in one arm, her arms around his neck, and Solovar on his other shoulder, Steve clutching the gorilla in alarm as the speedster raced away. It didn't take them long before they were in an alleyway quite some distance away, where Barry dropped everyone to the ground… before collapsing to the ground himself.

"Oh God!" he groaned, "Over four hundred pounds? Either someone didn't do their maths right, or I need to lift more!"

"Grodd got away again…" Hal stated from above, "… but if he used that rocket bike, I should be able to track him using the ring."

"… I've got to get me one of those." Steve muttered under his breath as Hal created green shields around them and flew them in the direction of Grodd's rocket bike, with Barry following on behind.

Eventually, they reached a military base… one that Steve knew to contain nuclear weapons, ones that were reactivated not long after the White Martian invasion.

"Please tell me he's not in there…" he groaned, his mind already flashing to the paperwork involved in 'crazy gorilla taking control of nuclear weapons', "… please Hal? Please tell me he's not in there."

"Halt! In the name of Grodd!"

Before the guard could get off a shot, Solovar leapt forwards and grabbed the gun, punching the man in the face, before helping him to the ground. "Hurry! Before Grodd realises that we're here!"

Suddenly, warning alarms started to blare, causing everyone to glance around.

"Something tells me he already knows!" Barry yelled, fighting to be heard over the alarms.

Steve shook his head frantically, "No, that's a launch alert!"

As if on cue, four missiles flew up into the sky.

"I'll stop the missiles!" Hal yelled, "You guys stop Grodd!"

"Right!" Barry then turned to the others, "Stop Grodd… how?"

"Pity there's no planes around here…" Steve muttered, as he followed Solovar, Barry and Iris inside, "… I'm pretty good at shooting down missiles with planes."

…..

J'onn grunted as he was punched across the face, falling back against the wall as he was pinned against the wall by the Leader.

"Quit stalling spy!" the gorilla growled, "Tell me who sent you!"

"No-one. Sent. Us!"

"LIES!"

Another punch sent J'onn crashing to the ground.

"I want the truth! Or you'll all pay most dearly…"

As the gorilla strode past them, there was a clicking noise (catching Diana's attention immediately).

"… starting with you." The gorilla turned his attention to Hawkgirl, who seemed amused by this.

"Take your best shot!"

As the gorilla raised a giant hand to strike the omega, there was a sudden protest from his left.

"No!"

Launching bolas at the Leader, Batman took advantage of the situation to fire a grapple at the ceiling, pulling himself up high.

"GET HIM!"

Throwing a batarang at Diana's handcuffs, Bruce short-circuited the lock, giving her the chance to wrench herself free and grab the gorilla guard closest to her, throwing him at another guard.

From there on, there was only chaos.

Hawkgirl didn't seem to care that her handcuffs were still in place, as she jumped to her feet and propelled into the Leader.

Batman dived down from the ceiling, knocking on of the guards out as Diana deflected blaster shots away from him.

J'onn broke free of his own cuffs, flying at the gorilla who was shooting at his team-mates and knocking him out with one strike. After Hawkgirl had taken care of the last guard, J'onn moved over to her and wrenched her cuffs from her wrists.

Casually, she walked right over the Leader, digging her boots into the gorilla's abdomen as she went to grab her mace.

"Let's go!" she growled, the tight quarters clearly making her anxious as she charged up her mace and bashed a hole right in the hole of the cell, which they all left through immediately, with three of them flying to safety and Batman using his grapple.

"SECURITY!" They heard the Leader scream behind them, "STOP THEM!"

As they flew over the streets (with the exception of Batman, who was running on them), Diana shook her head in amazement at the sight of all the gorillas walking around this new city. "What madness is this?"

"Let's not wait around to find out."

However, as they tried to get through the shimmering shield surrounding the city, a jolt of electricity went straight through them and they fell to the ground, where they were quickly surrounded.

"If you ever try to escape like that again, you will live to regret it." The Leader snarled.

However, before they could launch another attack or say anything in their defence, the shield shivered violently, before disappearing completely.

"The shield's down!" the Leader gasped in shock, "Get it back up immediately!"

"It's not responding! Someone's over-ridden the system!"

"…. Grodd."

"Sir! Scanners have detected armed missiles heading straight for us! What are your orders?!"

"Evacuate the city! Immediately!"

"But what about the humans?"

The Leader gave them a quick glance, before shaking his head, "I've got bigger problems to worry about now."

"Maybe we can help?"

The Leader stopped in his tracks at Diana's statement, "You?" he hissed, "What could you do to help us?"

There was a brief moment of silence, before Hawkgirl raised her mace and grinned. "Watch this."


	6. Chapter 6

Hal shot after the missile as quickly as they could, using his ring to slice through the metal, to reveal vulnerable wires.

Perks of being trained by the Air Force… he knew missiles like this, like the back of his hand.

Reaching in, he grabbed the wires and wrenched them away from the main controllers, flying back as they caught on fire…. Before BOOM

"One down…" he muttered to himself, "… three to go."

….

"Missile Number One deactivated."

Grodd frowned and spun around in his chair, "What happened?"

"Best guess?" They all spun around to see Barry, Solovar, Iris and Steve standing in the doorway, "That was our buddy with the power ring?"

"… You lot again."

Solovar then stepped forwards, his gun carefully aimed at the other gorilla, "Grodd, you're under arrest for crimes against Gorilla City!"

"In five more minutes, there won't be a Gorilla City!"

"Worst defence ever…" Steve shook his head, "… 'If there's no city, then I can't be punished for crimes against it!'"

…

Hal quickly deactivated the second missile… but he wasn't paying attention as it exploded behind him.

A large piece of metal struck him in the back of the head, and everything went dark.

…..

"Missile number two deactivated!"

"It's over Grodd!"

"NO!" Grodd charged forwards, dodging every shot fired at him, before jumping on top of Solovar and striking him across the face, "I will not lose to the likes of you!"

Before he could hit Solovar again, Flash zipped forwards and pushed Grodd's helmet further onto his bed, blinding the gorilla and hitting the helmet… over and over and over again. "Guess who!"

Before Grodd could land a hit on him, Barry raced away again.

"Where are you human?!" Grodd growled, wrenching the helmet off of his head and growling at the sight of Flash smirking at him.

"You want a piece of me Chuckles? Come on!"

Needless to say, Grodd struggled to catch the speedster as Steve and Iris went to capture Doctor Corwin.

…

"Oh, crap!" Hal woke up when he was inches from the ground, stopping himself just in time and breathing a sigh of relief, "Holy shit, that was too close. That was way too close."

As he shot back up into the sky, he realised that the missiles were far too close for him to do anything about them.

"I'm too late…" he exclaimed, "… I'm too late!"

And then he saw the familiar figures flying up to meet the missiles.

J'onn phased straight through the missile, removing the dangerous component as he went, meaning that the missile simply dropped to the ground, no explosions involved.

Hawkgirl attacked the final one with her mace, growling as it got closer and closer to the ground, the inhabitants of Gorilla City screaming in fear and alarm down below.

Quickly realising that, whilst the mace would explode the missile early, there would still be several casualties, Diana flew in front of the missile, pushing against it in an attempt to stop the missile from doing any serious damage.

"Oh… Hera give me strength!"

The missile got closer to the ground, giving her the chance to dig her feet into the ground, finally managing to slow the descent, until it could be carefully placed on the ground.

Seconds before it could explode, J'onn phased through and removed the detonator.

"The fates were kind today…" She sighed in relief, glancing around at the crowd of gorillas who had surrounded them, "… your city is safe!"

…..

"Missile number four deactivated!"

Grodd looked like he was going to explode himself as he glared at Barry. "I'll rip you limb from limb!" When he tried to grab Barry, the man darted to the side and Grodd tripped over Iris's carefully placed foot, falling into the computers opposite.

"You gotta catch me first!"

Grodd snarled and tried a few more times to hit the Flash, only to end up punching through a control panel. "Stand still and fight me, you simpleton!"

"We could do that…. Or you remove the mind control helmet, and I remove this headband!"

Almost immediately, everyone started to protest, with Iris's voice being heard high above the others. "Flash, don't you dare!"

Barry ignored her. "Come on Gorilla of my dreams! Take off the helmet!" Without even pausing, Barry removed the headband and chucked it to the ground.

"Flash, I swear to God…" he heard Iris hiss behind him, "… when this is all over, I will end you."

Grodd however, was clearly thrilled by the move. "You're a bigger fool than I thought."

"Still more evolved than you."

"… The world will miss your sparkling intellect…. Goodbye Flash." Grodd put his hands up near his helmet, only for electricity to course through his entire body, eyes rolling back into his head as he fell forwards to the ground.

Doctor Corwin rushed forwards, "What have you done to him?!"

"Simple… when I pushed the helmet down over his eyes, I also crossed a few wires."

"How could you!" Doctor Corwin wrapped her arms around Grodd, "You've destroyed the greatest mind on Earth!"

Barry turned to the others and shrugged, moving to the side as Steve stepped forwards, the omega placing a hand on the beta's shoulders. "He'll be alright… and so will you now that you're free from his mind control."

"What are you talking about?" she sneered, "He never had to use that on me…. I love him!"

Steve and Barry glanced at each other, before Barry shrugged, "Internet romances… go figure."

…..

"You look nervous… I would have thought you'd be off already."

Diana, who was staring up to the sky, simply shook her head. "According to the Leader, his Head of Security is coming back, with Flash, Iris and… and Steve."

"… Figured out what you're going to say to him?"

"What can I say… what can I say that will make what I did to him, how I treated him any better?" Diana shook her head, "I behaved just like I did when we first met, and I swore to never be that Alpha ever again."

"…. You owe him one big sorry."

"I owe him more than that."

She stood there until she saw a gorilla speeding towards them, with a red blur appearing in front of her.

"Hey Diana!" Barry greeted eagerly, placing his wife on the ground, "Hey Hawkgirl! Have you met Iris yet?"

Hawkgirl shook her head and shook Iris's hand, nodding in greeting as the gorilla landed a small distance away, with Steve on the back of the vehicle.

"Steve…" Diana sighed in relief, darting forwards and lifting her omega into her arms, wrapping them around him as she kissed him deeply on the mouth. When she finally parted from him, she buried her face in his neck, nuzzling at the mating bite and taking in his scent "… oh God, Steve!"

"Diana?" Nervously, but with a small smile on his face, Steve gently returned the hug, flushing as Barry and Iris gave him two thumbs up, "Diana, are you okay?"

"I thought I lost you!" Diana almost sobbed, "Central City was gone, and I thought I'd lost you forever, without saying sorry for how I treated you!"

"… You don't have to- "Steve paused at Iris's glare, before taking a deep breath, "- alright, I think I do deserve an apology yes…. But you can do that with a nice meal at our favourite restaurant and the rest of the evening in bed?"

"Deal my Apollo… "She gave him another kiss, "… it's a deal."

…

"I'm sorry we misjudged you…" The Leader nodded his thanks at all of them, "…We can never thank you enough."

"It wasn't a big deal…" Barry spoke up, wincing as Iris nudged him in the side, "… what's going to happen to Grodd though?"

"I'll show you…" Solovar gestured for them to follow him, leading them out of the main building and down to the streets, towards a human zoo-like cage where Grodd sat within, staring off into the distance, banana in one hand and mindlessly pushing a tire swing with the other hand.

"… The feedback from his helmet completely wiped out his mind."

Hal winced in sympathy, tearing his eyes away from the sight. "I almost feel sorry for him."

"You have my solemn word that he will receive the best of care."

As they walked away, Barry sauntered up to Hal and smirked, "Can you believe it, I actually managed to out-smart a super genius!"

"You have a degree in forensic sciences Barry… we already know you're smart."

"That… might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

With their backs turned away from the cage, they all missed how Grodd's grip tightened and his eyes narrowed in anger.

…..

"Oof!" Steve grunted as he was thrown on their bed, with Diana almost immediately jumping on top of him, her hands pinning his wrists to the mattress, "Angel!"

Diana smirked at him, leaning down and nuzzling at his mating bite once again, enjoying the happy little sighs and moans Steve couldn't help but let out.

"Diana! Please…"

"Please what my Apollo?"

Steve stared up at her, a light flush now on his cheeks, "Please… don't stop."

"Never…" Diana gave a soft smile, so different from the wicked smile she was giving him earlier, "…. I have a lot of apologising to do."

"Several weeks of it by my count."

"Well then… I'd better get started."


End file.
